Setback actuated timing device



July 2, 1963 B. D. NABRESKI ETAL 3,095,816

SETBACK ACTUATED TIMING DEVICE Filed Sept. 14. 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. BENJAMIN D. NABRESKI ALBERT L. STAUDTE BY 1 7. $2315, AJQWMYVJW ATTORNEYS:

y 1963 B. D. NABRESKI ETAL 3,095,816

SETBACK ACTUATED TIMING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 14, 1960 .IKE m. man w. WWW fl N E T R WMS Y m T MR & m 0 I ma EL J 5 BA 0 an BY z/fiaiwa,

y 2, 1963 B. D. NABRESKI ETAL 3,095,816

SETBACK ACTUATED TIMING DEVICE Filed Sept. 14, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 m INVENTOR. no BENJAMI NABRESKI B LBERT .STAUDTE ATTORNEYS y 1963 B. D. NABRESKI ETAL 3,095,315

SETBACK ACTUATED TIMING DEVICE Filed Sept. 14, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. BENJAMIN D.NABRESKI ALBERT L. STAUDTE B 5 J 4 16mg Q- W YX 4,1 4

ATTORNEYS FIGJG.

United States Patent 3,695,816 SETBACK ACTUATED TIMING DEVICE Benjamin D. Nahreski, Haddon Heights, N.J., and

Albert L. Staudte, Philadelphia, Pa, assignors to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary oi the Army Filed Sept. 14, 196%, Ser. No. 56,070 2 Claims. (Cl. 102-84) (Granted under Title 35, US. Code (1952), see. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to us of any royalty there- This invention relates to setback actuated timing devices which are utilized to produce certain efiiects in a moving vehicle, such as a rocket, at a predetermined time or times following the start of its deceleration.

In the use of some types of rockets, it is essential that the operation of certain mechanisms be initiated only after burnout and the beginning of deceleration, and that the end results of such operation be delayed by predetermined time intervals. The present invention accomlishes these results by a combination wherein a deceleration sensitive mechanism functions to initiate arming of a timer, after the vehicle begins to decelerate.

The invention will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings and its scope is indicated by the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an exterior view of the device,

FIG. 2 is a partial exploded view of the device,

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the deceleration sensitive element which is located in the upper part of the lowermost unit of FIG. 2,

FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 are sections taken on the lines 44-, 5--5, and 6 6 of FIG. 3,

FIGS. 7 and 8 are sectional views along lines 77 and 8-8 respectively of FIG. 2 and showing certain details in the mechanical coupling between the deceleration sensitive element and the timing element,

FIG. 9 is an exterior View or" the timing element shown at the top of FIG. 2,

(FIG. 10 shows the timing element with certain of its parts displaced from their normal positions in order to facilitate an understanding of its structure,

FIGS. 11, 12, 13 and 14 are sectional view taken on the lines 1111, 12-12, 13-43 and 14-14 of FIG. 9, and

FIGS. 15, 16 and 17 illustrate certain details of a pair of electrical switches which are located at the bottom of the lowermost unit of FIG. 2 and are released by the timing element to close at predetermined times after the rocket has been fired.

The device of FIG. 1 includes an upper housing 26, a lower housing 21, a socket assembly 23 and a retaining ring 22. The housing 29 is engraved circumferentially with one-second \graduations from 10 through 100 seconds, every fifth second being numbered. Arranged on the lower housing is a Vernier which has ten 0.1 second graduations on either side of a zero. A knob 24 has near the end of its shaft, a pinion which operates a gear 25 (see FIG. 2) for adjusting the relation between these graduations and setting time into the device. A safety pin 26 is arranged to lock the parts in their adjusted positions. As shown more clearly in FIG. 2, the lower casing 21 is provided with viewing holes 27 and 28. The device as actually constructed weighed 3 pounds, was 3.609 inches in diameter and 5.545 inches in length.

The deceleration element 23 of FIGS. 3 to 6 is mounted in the unit 3% of FIG. 2 above the operated de- 3,095,816 Patented July 2, 1963 ice vices (in the present embodiment a pair of switches) which are controlled by the timer. It includes a lever 31 which is pivoted to a support 32 by a pin 33, bears at its free end a tab 34-, rests against a spring 35 and is limited in its upper movement by a stop 36. Mounted on the support 32 is a barrier 37 which is pivoted on a rod 38 and has near one of its ends a pin 39. Near its pivoted end, the lever 31 supports a barrier guard 40 which has a groove 41 arranged to receive the pin 39 in a predetermined position of the lever 31. As hereinafter explained, the barrier 37 is spring biased against the barrier guard 40.

Mounted on the support 32 at the free end of the lever 31 is a rotor 42 which bears a pin 43 and a roller 44 and is coupled to a delay gear train 45 mounted between supports 46 and 47. A rotor stop pin 48 is fixed to the support 46. The rocket is fired in the direction indicated by the arrow 49 '(see FIG. 4).

The acceleration produced by the firing of the rocket causes the lever 31 tomove downwardly compressing the spring 35, exerting a pressure on the roller 44 and turning the rotor 42 until it engages the rotor stop 48. This runs the delay train 45 which tends to retard the downward movement of the lever. It also moves the rotor pin 43 to a point which permits upward movement of the lever tab 34.

As the lever moves down, the barrier guard 40 also moves down so that it blocks the barrier pin 39 more effectively, the relation between the pin 39 and the guard 49 being such that the barrier 37 is maintained in a vertical position until the groove 41 is alined with the pin. The strength of the spring 35 is such that it will compress sufiiciently to permit rotation of the rotor from the weight gained by the lever during acceleration of the rocket.

At burn-out, when deceleration of the rocket starts, the compressed spring 35 pushes against the lever 31 forcing it beyond the rotor pin 43. immediately prior to the lever being halted by the stop 36, the groove 41 is alined with the pin 39 allowing the pin to sweep through the groove and releasing the barrier 37. Once the barrier is released, further acceleration or deceleration of the rocket, are of no consequence insofar as operation of the device is concerned.

The barrier 37 is rotated about its pivot 38 by the force of the firing arm levers. This rotation of the barrier releases a pair of firing arms 51 and 52 (FIG. 7) which are rotated by spring biased shafts 53 and 54 into engagement with the rim of the timing disk 55 (FIGS. 2 and 10).

As indicated in FIGS. 13 and 14, the timer safety lever is pivoted about a pin 56, has an opening 57 for receiving the stop pin which is removed by setback and has a pin 58 which is in engagement with an escapement lever 53 (FIG. 14) when the safety lever is in its illustrated locked position. When the locking pin is removed by setback, a spring 59 functions to sweep the pin 53 past the end of the escapement lever 59 and initiate operation of the timer movement.

Aside from the timing disk and safety lever 50, the timer is of a conventional construction including a main spring 61 coupled to an escapement gear 62 through a gear train which includes gear 63, pinion 64, gear 65, pinion 66, gear 67, pinion 63, gear 69, pinion 70, gear 71 and pinion 72. Associated with the escapement gear 62 in a well known manner are the escapement lever 59 previously mentioned and an escapement spring 73.

The timing disk 55 of FIGS. 2 and 10 has a rim in which is a slot 75. The firing lever arms 51 and 52 have uprights 77 and 73 (FIG. 7) which ride on the rim of the disk 55 after the barrier 37 is rotated from its vertical position as previously explained. The main- 3 spring 61 (FIG. 10) is always prewound. This is accomplished by means of two pins, one in the arbor and the other in the mainspring housing. These pins prevent the arbor :from unwinding more than one full turn, thus enabling it to operate in the flat portion of the torque output curve of the spring.

As the timer runs, the uprights 77 and 78 (FIG. 7) of the firing arms 51 and 52 ride along the edge of the timing disk 55 (FIGS. 2 and 1 When the upright 77 is swung through the slot 75 by a spring (not shown) a notch 79 in its shaft 53 releases a switch arm 80 (FIG. 8). Similarly when the upright 78 is swung through the slot 75, a notch 81 in the shaft 54 releases a switch arm 82.

The switch arm 8%] is fixed to a shaft 83 (FIGS. 8 and 17) on which is mounted a member 84 bearing movable contacts 85 and 36. Fixed contacts 87 and 88 are arranged to be engaged by the contacts 85 and 86 upon rotation of the shaft 83'.

The switch arm 82 is fixed to a shaft 89 (FIGS. 8 and 16) which is concentric with the shaft 83 and has mounted upon it a switch member 9t) bearing movable switch contacts 91 and 92. These contacts engage with fixed contacts 93 and 94 upon switch closure.

The switch arms 36 and 82 are biased from their FIG. 8 positions by a spring 95 which functions to close the switches successively in response to the successive release of the switch arms from the shafts 53 and 54 as previously explained.

The switch assembly includes two separate switches each operating independently of the other. The switches are of the rotary knife-type, the contacts and all electrical conductors being gold plated to insure non-corrosion. Activated by the inner and outer shafts 83 and 89, both switches are powered by the single spring 95.

From the foregoing description it follows that the device of the present invention includes a deceleration sensitive device which permits arming so that electrical circuits can be completed at successive time intervals following the operation of the timer movement.

We claim:

1. In a timing device, the combination of a support,

a rotor jourualed in said support and having fixed thereto a rotor pin and a roller which extend axially therefrom and are angularly displaced from one another about the rotational axis of said rotor,

a delay .gear train coupled to said rotor,

a lever having one end pivoted to said support and having the other end located between said rotor pin and said roller,

resilient means exerting a force whereby said other end of said lever is "biased into engagement with said rotor pin,

a [barrier guard fixed to said one end of said lever and having a groove curving outwardly from and alined with said lever,

a barrier pivoted to said support,

a barrier pin fixed to said barrier, said barrier pin being movable along the edge of said barrier guard past the end of said groove upon the movement of said lever against the force exerted by said resilient means and being movable along said edge and into said igroove by said force, and

a firing arm biased into engagement with said barrier and releasable therefrom upon movement of said barrier pin into said groove.

2. In a timing device, the combination of a support,

a rotor journaled in said support and having fixed thereto a rotor pin and a roller which extend axially therefrom and are angularly displaced from one another about the rotational axis of said rotor,

a delay gear train coupled to said rotor,

a lever having one end pivoted to said support and having the other end located between said rotor pin and said roller,

resilient means exerting a force whereby said other end of said lever is biased into engagement with said rotor pin,

a barrier lguard fixed to said one end of said lever and having a groove curving outwardly from and alined with said lever,

a barrier pivoted to said support,

a barrier pin fixed to said barrier, said barrier pin being movable along the edge of said barrier guard past the end of said groove upon the movement of said lever against the force exerted by said resilient means and being movable along said edge and into said :groove by said force,

a firing arm biased into engagement with said barrier and releasable therefrom upon the movement of said barrier pin into said groove, said firing arm having an extension,

a timer including a disk having an edge in engagement with said extension and a slot in said edge into which said extension is movable,

means operated by a setback force to initiate operation of said timer, and

a load device releasable for operation upon said movement of said extension into said groove.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,593,775 MacLean Apr. 22, 1952 2,928,347 McLean Mar. 15, 1960 2,958,282 Czajlcowski et al. Nov. 1, 1960 

1. IN A TIMING DEVICE, THE COMBINATION OF A SUPPORT, A ROTOR JOURNALED IN SAID SUPPORT AND HAVING FIXED THERETO A ROTOR PIN AND A ROLLER WHICH EXTEND AXIALLY THEREFROM AND ARE ANGULARLY DISPLACED FROM ONE ANOTHER ABOUT THE ROTATIONAL AXIS OF SAID ROTOR, A DELAY GEAR TRAIN COUPLED TO SAID ROTOR, A LEVER HAVING ONE END PIVOTED TO SAID SUPPORT AND HAVING THE OTHER END LOCATED BETWEEN SAID ROTOR PIN AND SAID ROLLER, RESILIENT MEANS EXERTING A FORCE WHEREBY SAID OTHER END OF SAID LEVER IS BIASED INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID ROTOR PIN, A BARRIER GUARD FIXED TO SAID ONE END OF SAID LEVER AND HAVING A GROOVE CURVING OUTWARDLY FROM AND ALINED WITH SAID LEVER, A BARRIER PIVOTED TO SAID SUPPORT, A BARRIER PIN FIXED TO SAID BARRIER, SAID BARRIER PIN BEING MOVABLE ALONG THE EDGE OF SAID BARRIER GUARD PAST THE END OF SAID GROOVE UPON THE MOVEMENT OF SAID LEVER AGAINST THE FORCE EXERTED BY SAID RESILIENT MEANS AND BEING MOVABLE ALONG SAID EDGE AND INTO SAID GROOVE BY SAID FORCE, AND A FIRING ARM BIASED INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID BARRIER AND RELEASABLE THEREFROM UPON MOVEMENT OF SAID BARRIER PIN INTO SAID GROOVE. 